Thursday, July 10, 2008

What is Theoparadox

This is a blog dedicated to exploring the idea that paradox is an essential element for any genuinely Biblical thinking about God. There is much in Biblical revelation that is beyond human understanding. It may not be that God's nature, character and ways are too complex, but that they are quite simple and WE are too complex! This is why we are called to approach God with humility. I hope this blog will provide food for thought and help you move toward a deeper worship of the Sovereign One who IS LOVE. I pray that this worship will express itself in thoughtful admiration of WHO HE IS as well as deeds of service done in grateful response to WHAT HE'S DONE for us on the cross. We'll explore some of the classic paradoxes in Christian theology (and maybe some lesser known paradoxes), as well as the implications of God's self-revelation - and we'll do some devotional Bible study, too.

Some of these articles will search out the senses in which particular seemingly contradictory statements can be validly made. For example, we might look at the ways in which both of these concepts are true:

P1 All events are foreknown and decreed by God.P2 Prayer is essential and effective.

Both statements are Biblically warranted and undeniable. The apparent contradictions our minds produce from them may or may not be resolvable. But we will gain insight and a better understanding of God's Word as we compare Scripture with Scripture and explore these matters. I pray we will be increasingly motivated toward grace-inspired, faith-born obedience through the studies done here.

Thanks for checking out THEOparadox.Soli Deo Gloria - to God alone be glory!

PS - if you're still wondering what "THEOparadox" is, it's a coined word made from THEOS (the Greek word for God) and PARADOX (seemingly contradictory truths that cannot be harmonized using human logic alone). Essentially, "Theoparadox" is a call to Biblical humility and worship.

5 comments:

Hi, Derek... I haven't had time to read much of your blog. But I like it that you oppose the McClaren brand of liberalism.

However, I don't agree that there are paradoxes in Scripture. For me they are merely things that we have not yet come to fully understand. Most "apparent" paradoxes have logical answers and most of them have been answered to one degree or another.

My problem with the paradox view is that it capitulates too much to neo-orthodoxy. My own views are closer to Carl F. H. Henry or Gordon H. Clark that Scripture contains "propositional truth."

I'm a moderate Calvinist, Credo-Baptisitic, and conservatively charismatic. I identify most with the theological perspectives of Sovereign Grace Ministries.

For the most part, I agree with your statement that Scripture is propositional. But one of the main points of this blog is to affirm that God's ways are higher than ours, and that the propositions sometimes seem to cross one another. I'm exploring the various reasons for this, trying to resolve apparent contradictions if possible, and theorizing about some of the deeper matters of Reformed theology.

I've tangled with some Clarkians over my approach here, but I find the disussion interesting and I'm certainly not the Van Tillian that some have assumed I am. I'm still studying Van Til v. Clark and some of the issues there, finding I agree with both of them on some points, and disagree on some. I don't think I really understand Van Til, which is not surprising, given his generally confusing modes of expression. Either he's brilliant or he's a complete fruit loop!

I'm a fan of Piper Edwards, the Puritans, etc. and ESPECIALLY the Bible.

I wouldn't call myself a "confessional Calvinist" because I haven't read most of the creeds and confessions yet. But from what I've seen so far, I probably agree with 95% of what is written in the major Reformed creeds.

You are certainly correct in saying that there are some dangers in the paradox view. The Neo-orthodox teachers went WAY TOO FAR. I've tried to be careful to distance myself from guys like Barth. However, I find in Calvin and in many other historic Calvinists a strong affirmation of mysteries, paradoxes, and things inexplicable but nonetheless true. The major focus here is on the kinds of paradoxes that are affirmed within orthodox, Reformed theology (pre-Van Til).

That's a long answer to a short question, which I hope it adequately answers.

Within the last few years I have been convicted to leave the Arminian camp and recognize reformed theology as truth over and against many of the doctrines I would have fought tooth and nail for before. Which lead me to your site. Now when I read the scriptures I embrace the tension and paradoxes that I come across instead of turning a blind eye and pretending as if they don't exist. I have no formal training and didn't even know biblical paradoxes were part of christian vernacular. I was pleased to see I am not the only one interested in this subject. I was worried I was off base. I look forward to reading all that you have on the subject. I fill in for the pastor quite often at our church and was thinking this may be my next sermon topic. Thanks Brother Scott Wallace Palmdale Ca.

Thanks very much for this comment, it is encouraging. Admittedly, I've meandered a bit in my understanding of paradoxes, and I'd have to say this blog is more "exploratory" than definitive regarding these matters. Throughout my meandering, however, certain truths have remained at the forefront:

1. The Bible is inerrant and fully sufficient.2. God is transcendent, infinite, and by nature way beyond us - morally, intellectually, and in every other way possible.3. We are totally depraved, morally corrupt in all parts (i.e., pervasively). That means even our intellectual faculties are faulty and we need the Word to correct us.4. Some divine things (including some things spoken of in Scripture) are simply beyond us and mysterious.5. On the other hand, there is sufficient clarity in Scripture regarding all essential points.

I believe these perspectives are foundational to Reformed theology, and every attempt to undermine them has led to some sort of imbalance or even heresy. The writings of great Reformed theologians of the past seem to bear this out (Calvin included).

Feel free to comment on anything you find here, I'm always glad to have thoughtful feedback.

I was greatly influenced by a sermon series found here:

http://www.graceky.org/index.php?c=sermons&sermonPage=13

The 7-part series was called "Let God be God." It's from a very balanced Calvinist named Brad Bigney, and it shattered my Arminian theology by showing me the reality of Biblical mystery and paradox.

I also recommend James Anderson's book "Paradox in Christian Theology." It's a heavy read, but it lays out the logical foundations for belief in theological paradoxes.

I like this subject for it help sharpens my mind on how will I judge scripturally rather than theologically. It may again be a paradox but this is where sometimes the line is drawn when bible students approaches the bible for truth and application. You know there are truths in the bible that we need not practice and on the other hand there are those we do but is not commanded in scriptures. I think you understand me. I am looking forward for many articles on this subject.Its Me,Levi

Feel free to respond to anything written in the posts, or to the comments left by others. All comments are reviewed before they are published.

Please be charitable. If you disagree, do so with grace. Keep your words positive, focused, and on-topic. We don't expect everyone to agree, but we do expect everyone to treat everyone else with respect and grace, speaking the truth in love.

About the THEOparadox Team

Derek Ashton,Founder:I know enough about myself to be completely amazed that God loves me. His grace toward me has been abundant and overwhelming. I thank Him that I've been married to my beautiful bride since 1996. I have the privilege of raising two wonderful children who are gifts from God. (Read my testimony here).

Emeritus Team Members:Tony Hayling:Learn more about Tony at his site, Agonizomai.

THEOparadox MISSION Statement:

~To honor God by upholding the authority, inerrancy and sufficiency of His Word, the Bible.~To help students of the Word to interpret Biblical paradoxes in a way that faithfully reflects God's heart.~To ignite a devotional flame that will help believers to warm up their theology and burn up their pride.~To encourage Christian faith by resolving or explaining apparent contradictions in the Scriptures.~To explore the nature and extent of paradoxes in historically orthodox, Reformed, Biblical theology.

~To provide Biblical resources for those who desire to know God and His Word better.

~To glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, the Friend of sinners and the Savior of the lost.

Feature Series

Theology Meets Geometry

Rules

Feel free to respond to anything written in the posts, or to the comments left by others.

Please be charitable. If you disagree, do so with grace. Keep your words positive, focused, and on-topic. We don't expect everyone to agree, but we do expect everyone to treat everyone else with respect and grace, speaking the truth in love.

Thanks!Mgmt.

Followers

"Heresy is born whenever the Church fails to pray a tension."

"Hyper-Calvinism and Arminianism both result from the same problem: A tension-deficient disorder."

"Human beings are incredibly good over-compensators."

What is a PARADOX?

A tenet or proposition contrary to received opinion, or seemingly absurd, yet true in fact.

Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828 Edition

"... it is synonymous with apparent contradiction. A 'paradox' thus amounts to a set of claims which taken in conjunction appear to be logically inconsistent. Note that according to this definition, paradoxicality does not entail logical inconsistency per se, but merely the appearance of logical inconsistency."

James Anderson, Paradox in Christian Theology

Wise Words ...

"The juxtaposition of words and ideas that don't usually go together make the real point stand out for us more clearly. And some truths in the Christian life are best expressed as oxymorons - paradoxical language."

~Phil Johnson

Wise Words . . .

"By advocating paradox I don't want to give the impression that I'm giving a carte blanche to not think philosophically, to not think deeply, about these doctrines. Quite the opposite. . . . My position is that with each of these doctrines we reflect on them as hard as we can, we penetrate them as best we can based on the Scriptural data that we do have, but we also recognize that there are going to be limits, and that those limits are actually a positive thing and not a reflection of some inherent problem in the doctrines or in the process of theological reflection. . . . I think we can make progress, we can make

considerable progress, in understanding these doctrines and resolving some of the . . . initial difficulties that we have with them, but at the same time recognizing that we're always only going to get so far and when we bump up against the limits of our capacity to formulate them in certain ways or to resolve certain difficulties in them, we

shouldn't be too concerned about that. We certainly shouldn't say, 'Okay, we need to admit that Christians are ultimately irrationalists.' No. We don't need to say that at all. . . . It's a Biblically constrained rationality. It's a middle way between rationalism, of which I think [Gordon H.] Clark was a representative, and irrationalism, of which, to take an example I think the Neo-Orthodox - Karl Barth - would be an example, where you're saying that there are actual contradictions in there. So I think it's navigating a Biblical middle way between these two extremes: having too high a view of the human intellect, and perhaps too low a view of the intellect, of our ability to know the things

of God."

~Dr. James Anderson

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The Gospel

God lovingly sacrificed His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, for a depraved and law-breaking humanity's only way to be saved from His just wrath, and through His death and resurrection graciously sanctified and secured forever all those who believe on Him - for their ultimate good and His eternal glory.

The following quotation was found in a recent post on a popular Arminian blog . It is by James Arminius, the founder of Arminianism, and pur...

Theological Paradoxes

Below I have listed some of the classic theological paradoxes (and a few interesting ironies, too) . . .

~The Trinity- God is One being revealed in three distinct persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)~God is transcendent(separate from His creation) yet immanent(in His creation)~Omnipresence- God is always present everywhere, yet He sometimes speaks of Himself as "present" in a special way~The Incarnation- God became a man~The Virgin Birth - A Jewish virgin gave birth to the Son of God~The Two Natures of Christ - Jesus is fully (100%) God and fully (100%) man

~The Atonement is sufficient to save every person, but efficient only for those who believe~God is completely sovereign (in control of everything, everywhere, all the time) yet He is not the author of sin and he uses human choice to accomplish His purposes~Inspiration of Scripture - The Bible was written by sinful human beings yet it is the inerrant and flawless Word of God~Divine Revelation - Sinful man cannot comprehend God, yet God reveals Himself to sinful man~Sanctification- Christians are sinners by nature, but saints by grace~Suffering- God brings His joy and comfort into our lives through our experiences of pain, disappointment and suffering

There are many others. Paradox is everywhere when we attempt to understand God's ways in a genuinely Biblical way.

Thank You for Visiting Theoparadox

The Apostles' Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord

Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,Born of the virgin Mary,Suffered under Pontius Pilate,Was Crucified, dead and buried

He descended into Hades;The third day He rose again from the dead;He ascended into heaven,and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty

From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit,The holy catholic (i.e., universal) Church,The communion of saints;the forgiveness of sins;the resurrection of the body;and the life everlasting. Amen